The Australian’s editorials have mused about leaving the Press Council, but News Corp can’t officially do so without four years’ notice. It could, however, gut the watchdog by undermining its authority. And that may well be the strategy …

The Australian has turned its particular brand of venom on Julian Disney, chair of the Press Council. Former Media Watch executive producer David Salter writes that self-regulation of the press is clearly no regulation at all.

Even before they could be sure of precisely what it contained, many of those who claim to speak for the press in Australia were lining up to damn the Convergence Review released today, writes David Salter.

The announcement late last week by the owners of The West Australian that they will resign their membership of the Australian Press Council has interesting ramifications, writes David Salter, veteran journalist and former Media Watch EP.

There is a point of view, represented in many of the submissions to the Fink, that the bad things about a free media are simply something we must put up with, in order not to throw out the free press baby with shitty bathwater of media misconduct.

The federal government’s print media inquiry concluded on Friday with a wide-ranging discussion about possible sanctions for breaching Press Council standards, including the imposition of fines or compensation payments of up to $40,000.

A furious John Hartigan, outgoing CEO and chairman of News Limited, faced up to the media inquiry in Sydney yesterday. But the real winner from this inquiry is Press Council head Julian Disney, says Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes.